We met several years ago through our church in Lynchburg, VA (sometime in the middle of Madi's freshman year). We were loosely acquainted through the college ministry, and Madi had caught Matthew's eye for a little while when he started approaching her (and her consistently present flock of friends) in an attempt to converse. Not striking luck with finding moments for more personal conversation, and resolved in his interest, Matthew had to make a bold move...

Madi always studied in the same place, the Student Government office—and Matthew knew that! November 11th, 2022, Matthew undertook Operation Ask Madi Out. While he was planning to make the move whether she was sitting with friends or not, little did he expect how easy she would make it! As he walked into SGA, Madi noticed him and waved—and a moment later decided to go say hi (partially motivated to be friendly, partially motivated to tell him why she had missed college group the night before due to her car tire falling off randomly...). The quick hello and story recap turned into 45 minutes of conversation... which concluded with Matthew posing the question, "Would you like to go on a date with me?" Taken aback yet excited, Madi said, "That is a great question, thank you for asking, and I will get back to you in not too long of a time!" She proceeded to talk over the sudden idea with her roommate in great depth before giving Matthew the affirmative the next day. We went on our first date 3 days later... And haven't stopped since! :)

Matthew had dropped numerous hints that led Madi to think he would propose when he visited her in August... not least of all, that his family would not be returning from a Florida trip until after her visit to Virginia came to an end. Madi was convinced that it was not going to take place in July, which helped Matthew make the special day also a complete surprise! We had planned a dinner date for that weekend, and Madi inherently knew that meant dressing up, putting makeup on, etc (we have always loved dinner dates and enjoy the whole 'going out' deal!). Towards the end of our meal, Matthew was watching the unexpectedly stormy weather closely (a little too closely, but Madi didn't notice). After it cleared up, he offered to walk at Thomas Jefferson Poplar Forest because he had seen some red flowers he wanted to pick for Madi. The journey there had several close calls as Matthew's family was just ahead of us, helping navigate last-minute details of protecting the proposal setup against the rain, but Madi was jetlagged and very unaware of the close calls. We walked for a bit in the field, and Madi finally looked up from the wet grass to see a white table with beautiful roses not so far off. She asked if Matthew had put it there, to which he responded, "Are the flowers red?" Madi was still trying to wrap her mind around the idea that this was a proposal as they approached, but knew for sure when Matthew handed her a sweet letter to read. At the end, he knelt down and asked, "Madi Barrieau, will you marry me?" It took Madi a few seconds to find her voice before responding yes! After Matthew had put the ring on Madi's finger and we had talked and hugged for a few moments, Matthew announced that his family was here too—and out from behind a haybale next to the woods came Matthew's family, our friends Claire and Theo, and Madi's family on FaceTime! We went back to Matthew's family's house to an engagement party to celebrate with friends. We look back at that day with fondness, and look forward to our wedding day with excitement!

And we want you there to celebrate with us! We look forward with joy to seeing our friends and family who have supported us, shaped us, and built us up over the years present on the most special day of our lives. We hope you can be there!